Felting Lessons
I’ve been experimenting with felting handwovens for making ponytail holders. Along the way I’ve learned a few lessons:
- Fiber does matter
- Only certain fibers will felt. Wool and Alpaca are among these. Generally synthetics and cellulose based yarns will not. This can be used to advantage — you can create textures based on the difference in shrinkage.
- Spin Control
- Tightly spun yarns do not felt as well as loosely spun or many plied yarns.
- Spacing
- Loosely woven felts better than tightly woven. It shrinks more and it seems to felt more closely, although this may be a factor of the spin, too.
For the most part I’ve woven them on my little tapestry loom (which I love!).
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- These are two ply (or more) yarns
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- These have single ply yarns in them
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- To give an idea of the size
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- This is after they are felted.
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- What they look like when finished
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- Finished and Decorated with buttons by http://etsy.com/people/buttonalia
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- Finished and decorated
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- Here I’m wearing one of them.
